Denise Hibbard taking over as New Trier's Winnetka campus principal

Denise Hibbard poses for a portrait at New Trier High School's freshman campus in Northfield. She starts as principal of the Winnetka campus in July. (Gregory Trotter, Chicago Tribune)

Two years ago, Denise Hibbard returned to her native Illinois after opening a high school in California and leading it to academic success.

In July, Hibbard will replace longtime principal Timothy Dohrer at New Trier's Winnetka campus. She's been lauded by peers and former students for envisioning a successful school culture, then helping to create it at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, Calif.

The challenge will be a little different as head of New Trier, which for decades has been known for academic excellence and high-climbing alums.

But Hibbard's approach will be the same: She'll start by listening.

"When you're going into a sustainable culture of ideas, it often means that things are going really well," said Hibbard, 43, in a recent interview. "It means you really have to listen, learn and understand the relationships of people and the work that they do."

Hibbard will make $162,000 a year at her new post. For the past two years, she has been working as assistant principal on New Trier's freshman campus in Northfield.

Superintendent Linda Yonke said Hibbard had a reputation for being a principal who could develop leadership among her staff and build relationships with students and their families.

"She worked here for two years and proved all those things were true," Yonke said.

Originally from Sterling, Ill., about 50 miles west of Dekalb, Hibbard was one of five children. Her father was vice president of a hardware manufacturing company; her mother took care of the kids. Hibbard worked at a country club in high school, while also playing three sports and keeping her grades up.

"My father instilled in all of us the importance of responsibility, and part of that was contributing gas to the car," she said.

She was first inspired toward education in college at Northern Illinois University. Upon graduation with a teaching degree, she left for California's Napa Valley with no job and a desire to expand her life's horizons.

It worked out: She was hired as a coach, and then eventually a teacher, at Napa High School. She was there for four years, teaching health and physical education, while coaching, ending her tenure as dean of student activity.

Hibbard admits she "lit the candle at both ends" during those busy years, but said she learned the importance of interacting with students, be it in the classroom or on the volleyball court.

"It was really important to make those experiences not just inside the classroom, but outside the classroom, too," she said.

She went on to work for six years as assistant principal at California High School in San Ramon, Calif. But it was at Dougherty Valley High School where Hibbard's career came to a crescendo.

In 2007, the new school opened its doors to about 500 freshmen and sophomores, who had been pulled from neighboring schools. The school would grow to have about 2,200 students in grades 9-12. But leading up to that opening, Hibbard had been collecting community input from parents and students on what they wanted the school to be, and hiring the right teachers to make it happen.

"She had a vision for this school from day one," said Janet Tsuji, an office manager at Dougherty Valley High School who worked with Hibbard.

For teachers and staff, the vision was to create a "professional learning community," where doors were always open and teachers collaborated on lesson plans and best practices. There was no extra credit; the same grading scale applied to everyone.

"I was in awe of her every day," Tsuji said. "We felt so safe knowing she was our leader."

For students, the plan was to understand they may be upset at coming to a new school, Hibbard said, and to get them bought into the idea that they could create a new legacy at Dougherty Valley.

"It was a lot about meeting them where they were and not trying to change how they felt," Hibbard said, "but instead finding opportunities for them to be leaders."

Every athletic record was a new one. With a little effort, students could help create the school's legacy. Joey Aiello, the school's very first graduate thanks to the alphabetic placement of his last name, described his experience at Dougherty Valley as exciting and rewarding.

"Denise just really sold people on the idea. And she did it by being available and not up in some ivory tower," said Aiello, 21, now a student at University of California-Los Angeles.

In short time, Dougherty Valley became of one of the state's top performing schools based on California's standardized test, the Academic Performance Index test, or API.

For those keeping track, the fledgling Dougherty Valley (#328) edged out venerated New Trier (#345) in the latest U.S. News rankings of the top high schools in the country.

Yonke said she's excited for Hibbard to get started and bring some new ideas into New Trier's established tradition.

"We have a long history of success, but that doesn't mean we don't change," Yonke said.